CT, NJ, NYC and more!
This morning we finished packing all our stuff and headed down to NJ, accidentally forgetting to take out the kitchen trash before we left. Oops! Our apartment's going to be all stinky when I get back on Sunday. We drove in separate cars: me in our new one and Christian in the one we've been borrowing from my parents. I led the way in our caravan and the drive was smooth except we couldn't believe how many bad drivers were on the road today. Several times on the highway, vehicles veered into my lane -- usually SUVs or minivans. And once we were in NJ, we were turning at an intersection where two lanes turn left and this big SUV to the right of me cuts halfway into my lane to make his turn -- not in the middle of the intersection where the lanes aren't clear, but before the turn should have even begun. If I had been just an inch or two more forward, he would have caught the front of my car. Fucking SUVs think they're the king of the road.
We got into NJ, had lunch with my parents and then immediately hopped into the car again (this time together) to head into NYC. Christian needed to pick up a quality microphone for recording in the field and I had to pick up a DVD I had won in a promotion. (From what I hear, the movie is just one extended orgasm, as evidenced by the DVD cover). This trip kept getting postponsed: Saturday was no good since the one store in NYC with high-quality audio equipment is owned by Orthodox Jews who closed it for sabbath. Sunday was vetoed by us since we'd lose the whole day and both of us had big deadlines to meet for August 1. So we went today and we opted to go by car. Amazingly, it only took us two hours of driving from my parents', through the city and back, and most of that time was spent just trying to go in circles in midtown to get back onto the West Side Highway. Soooo many pedestrians blocking your way! Not that I mind -- taking a car into a city should be a major irritation to the driver. The less cars in a crowded city, the better. On that note, a link to an op-ed on urban planning that's worth reading. once_a_banana, I think you'll particularly appreciate the comment about opening car doors, given your accident and the fatal accident of your acquaintance.
So now we're in NJ. Christian's finishing up his abstract by his deadline and I'm just doing math. Tomorrow it's off to the airport for Christian for a month in Mexico. As usual, I'm going to miss him, but these prolonged absences have become fairly routine by now. I know that with all the stuff that we have to do in August, the time will fly by super fast. And since the towns he works in have had internet the past two years, it's been much easier for us to communicate.
We got into NJ, had lunch with my parents and then immediately hopped into the car again (this time together) to head into NYC. Christian needed to pick up a quality microphone for recording in the field and I had to pick up a DVD I had won in a promotion. (From what I hear, the movie is just one extended orgasm, as evidenced by the DVD cover). This trip kept getting postponsed: Saturday was no good since the one store in NYC with high-quality audio equipment is owned by Orthodox Jews who closed it for sabbath. Sunday was vetoed by us since we'd lose the whole day and both of us had big deadlines to meet for August 1. So we went today and we opted to go by car. Amazingly, it only took us two hours of driving from my parents', through the city and back, and most of that time was spent just trying to go in circles in midtown to get back onto the West Side Highway. Soooo many pedestrians blocking your way! Not that I mind -- taking a car into a city should be a major irritation to the driver. The less cars in a crowded city, the better. On that note, a link to an op-ed on urban planning that's worth reading. once_a_banana, I think you'll particularly appreciate the comment about opening car doors, given your accident and the fatal accident of your acquaintance.
So now we're in NJ. Christian's finishing up his abstract by his deadline and I'm just doing math. Tomorrow it's off to the airport for Christian for a month in Mexico. As usual, I'm going to miss him, but these prolonged absences have become fairly routine by now. I know that with all the stuff that we have to do in August, the time will fly by super fast. And since the towns he works in have had internet the past two years, it's been much easier for us to communicate.